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Poetry and the Public Sphere

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Carol Ann Duffy

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Abstract

This chapter recognizes that Duffy has always had a public element to her work but it flourishes during the laureate years Her subject is always what poetry has to say about an occasion or zeitgeist, whether pertaining to the entire population, notably war, nationalism, or climate change, or to experience and perspectives that are overlooked by the media or politicians. Certain subsections examine the relationship between poetry and place, poetry and sport, and poetry and royalty. The dominant volumes under discussion are The Bees and Ritual Lighting.

In 21st-century British society it is no longer possible, or even desirable, to write relevantly or meaningfully in response to, say, a royal anniversary or a national event. And anyway, can any single writer—poet, playwright or novelist—fully apprehend the British mood and give it lyrical expression? (McCrum 2008)

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ‘One school playing field sold off every three weeks since Coalition was formed’, Daily Telegraph, 13 December 2013. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/keep-the-flame-alive/10516870/One-school-playing-field-sold-off-every-three-weeks-since-Coalition-was-formed.html

  2. 2.

    Tony Blair, launching Labour’s education manifesto, University of Southampton, 23 May 2001.

  3. 3.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/1360879/Christians-massacred-at-prayer.html These lines are also relevant to the racist murder of nine people at prayer in Charleston, South Carolina, 18 June 2015. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/06/17/charleston-south-carolina-shooting/28902017/

  4. 4.

    Justin Parkinson (2014) ‘Set up Afghanistan war inquiry, MPs urge government’, BBC News website, 13 May. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27377977 See also, Peter Taylor (2013) ‘The Iraq war: the greatest intelligence failure in living memory’, Daily Telegraph, 18 March.

  5. 5.

    Julie Etchingham, n.d., http://fallenheroes.org.uk/farewell-wootton-bassett/

  6. 6.

    ‘First World War centenary: the war poem that moves the Duchess of Cornwall to tears’, Daily Telegraph, 28 June 2014.

  7. 7.

    In March 2015, there was further clarity over what went wrong. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/11464983/Liverpool-news-Hillsborough-police-chief-admits-terrible-lie.html

  8. 8.

    Tom Pettifor (2012) ‘Stephen Lawrence: Mum Doreen lays flowers at the spot where her son died’, Mirror, 7 January.

  9. 9.

    ‘Postcards to the Planet, a climate change special, Guardian Review, 26 Sept 2009.

  10. 10.

    http://www.westminsterabbey.org/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/47088/Commonwealth-Day-Observance-Programme-2011.pdf

  11. 11.

    In 2012, ‘The Hollow Crown’ was the title to a new series of the plays broadcast on BBC 2.

  12. 12.

    Cited as the Sunday Express in publicity material: http://www.panmacmillan.com/book/carolannduffy/thebees

  13. 13.

    To accompany ‘Shakespeare’, artist Stephen Raw translated the verse into seven paintings, which unveiled in November 2012 and were exhibited in the foyer of the Swan Theatre, Stratford on Avon.

  14. 14.

    https://belljarblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/jo-bells-always-there-awards-5/

  15. 15.

    The poems are published in The World Record (2012) ed. Neil Astley and Anna Selby, Tarset: Bloodaxe Books.

  16. 16.

    See, for example, the letters under ‘Taking a Line on poetical correctness’ (2008) Guardian 5 July.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

    Jane Dowson

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  1. Jane Dowson
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Dowson, J. (2016). Poetry and the Public Sphere. In: Carol Ann Duffy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-41563-9_5

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